Review: God of War Origins Collection

“You want to review God of War Origins Collection?” “Not really. I’ve played both the games on the PSP. I don’t think I can go through them all over again.” “You don’t need to finish the games… just review the quality of the ports” “Cool.”

This is how I got pulled into this ‘mess’ by Sameer Desai. Mess because at 4 am, I was trying to see how far I could get in Chains of Olympus without using a single health orbs chest. This was after I had pulled an all-nighter to finish Ghost of Sparta. Oh, and I had to be in at work at 9 am. And no, none of this was planned.

So yes, that ought to answer the first question that probably came to your mind. Is it worth it? At 1800 bucks, Ghost of Sparta alone is worth it. While almost all PS3 owners must have experienced the final chapter in Kratos’ story last March, not as many would have experienced the latest from Ready at Dawn.

Which is a shame, really, because just as Sam’s (curse him!) review suggests, the game was not only among the best games the PSP had to offer, but could stand toe to toe in quality with the PS3 and PS2 entries of the series. The story is interesting and well-paced, the action is signature God of War with a couple of minor new tweaks to the formula, and the graphics are outstanding. They obviously can’t match God of War 3, but Ghost of Sparta is easily the best looking GOW game after it. Be it the raging storms in Atlantis, or the domain of death ruled by the menacing Thanatos, Ghost of Sparta is a joy to look at and play.

And that is kind of compensatory, because in stark contrast, Chains of Olympus is quite underwhelming in the graphics department. While it was a great looking game back in its time, the graphics of its successor completely blows it out of the water. The transition to the PS3 hasn’t been kind to it either, and the game looks bland most of the time, even though its always fun to play. But like in the graphics department, it is completely outclassed by Ghost of Sparta in pacing, story and gameplay as well. So a word of advice: in case you do decide to pick it up, play Chains of Olympus first.

Each aspect of both the games is an exact replica of the PSP games, so any drawbacks that might have existed in the games translate over to the PS3 version as well. However, one additional niggle has creeped in by virtue of the transition. The games seem a lot easier on the PS3 than they did on the PSP. This can be attributed to the right stick on the PS3 controller which is used for rolling/dodging, making it much easier to pull off than on the PSP, where this was done by pressing and holding down the two triggers, and moving the solo analog stick in the desired direction. As any GOW series veteran would tell you, rolling to dodge is often the difference between life and death in the more challenging battles that the games throw at you. On the PSP, the developers would have balanced for the controls limitation in the game design, consequently making the game easier on the PS3, but then, there’s always the higher difficulty setting right?

Conclusion

There really is no reason why you shouldn’t have the Origins Collection. This is Kratos. This is God of War. And with Ghost of Sparta, this is God of War at its best. The only reason to avoid this would be if the series hasn’t caught your fancy with the earlier releases. But barring that, it is two awesome games at a price of less than one. So go right ahead and pick it up.

Kratos is watching.

Ghost of Sparta is the best looking God of War game after GOW3

Signature GOW gameplay

Technically sound, without any hiccups

Loads of content

Kratos, two times over

Chains of Olympus could have used a bit of graphical overhaul

Default difficulty is a bit on the easier side

9

There really is no reason why you shouldn’t have the Origins Collection. This is Kratos. This is God of War. And with Ghost of Sparta, this is God of War at its best.